Aerial target with posts and attached rings



United States Patent Robert A. Kerr 1501 Pottstown Pike, West Chester,Pennsylvania 19380 [21] Appl. No. 665,874

[22] Filed Sept. 6, 1967 [4S] Patented Nov. 17, 1970 [72] Inventor [54]AERIAL TARGET WITH POSTS AND ATTACHED RINGS 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

[52] 11.8. CI. 273/105, 273/104 [51] Int. Cl A63b 63/00 [50] FieldofSearch 273/104,

II" n ltll 1 Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-ThomasZack Attorney-Carl W. Mortenson ABSTRACT: A target is provided whichaffords a landing ter minal for a simulated spacecraft game device whichis capable of flying in a curved path. The target comprises barriers,hazards and the landing. ln order to reach the landing the craft mustpass barriers and hazards which are created by essentially upright poststhat force the craft to enter the landing either from the sides or fromthe rear of the device. The posts extend above horizontally disposedring-shaped members that are slightly larger than the craft to belanded, and there may be present supporting, rodlike members between therings which also act as barriers. Posts of different lengths are used tocreate different barriers. The rings afford a hollow body which isgenerally cylindrical and comprises the landing. The upright postsgenerally extend below the lowermost ring and are tapered to afford aready means for fixing and steadying the target on the ground.

llliill: [I I L Patented Nov. 17, 1970 llllh'lmlmw.

I ll mvmmg )QObGPtA. K6,? WJM ATTORN AERIAL TARGET WITH POSTS ANDATTACHED RINGS This invention relates to a device and more particularlyto a game device that is adapted to receive articleswhich are thrown ortossed toward the target with the objective of having the article settleover or in the target or around posts or pegs contained in the target.

This invention has an objective the provision of a game device whichaffords a target for throwing a disc such as is described and claimed inthe applicants U.S. Pat. No. 3,3l2,472. The disc described maintains aspinning motion during its flight and also can be made to fly in acurved path due to its lightness and its tapered construction. The disccan be made to fly past the target of this invention and return to it.Thus, the player can vary the game to seek scoring either with orwithout passing the target.

Accordingly, this invention has an objective the provision of a gamedevice which may be readily assembled and positioned on the ground orstaked in the ground. Another goal is the provision ofa target whichwill receive the entire article that is aimed at the target. A stillfurther object is the provision of a game device which affords partswhich act as barriers or which may be ringed by the article aimed at thetarget. These and other objectives will become apparent as thedescription of the invention proceeds.

The objectives of this invention are accomplished by a provision of atarget which has at least one circular member that is disposed to bemounted horizontally and which has at least one post that is disposed tobe mounted vertically. The ring member and the post member are heldtogether in a unitary fashion, the post extending above the ring.Preferentially, there are a plurality of rings and a plurality of posts.

Referring now to the attached drawings which are given for illustrativepurposes andare not limitative:

FIG. I is a front elevation ofa target of this invention showing twocomplete rings, one partial ring and three posts;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view ofsaid device; and I FIG. 4 is a sectional viewshowing a mounting means for hoiding a ring to a post.

In FIG. I the device of this invention is shown comprising three uprightstakes, 10, I1 and 12. ltis to be noted that stake II is shorter thanstakes and 12. Making stake ll shorter is done to provide for a moreready access of the tossed article into the center of the device. Thesestakes or posts pass through holes in the ring members described belowand as shown in FIG. 3 and the posts and rings are held together to forma stable target.

As shown in FIG. I, there are three horizontal ring members I3, 14 and15. As will be noted in FIG. 2 ring member 13 is only a partial ringwhereas rings 14 and 15 are complete. Thus, if one were tossing aringlike article toward the target of this invention with post 11positioned nearest to him it would be possible for him to toss thearticle directly over post 11 to settle down into the cylindrical space16 seen in FIG. 3. Alternately, using such a device as is described inU.S. Pat. No. 3,312,472, he could make the device go past the target andtry to make it settle into the space 16 clearing the higher posts 10 and12, a difficult maneuver; Of course, the target could be placed with thehigher posts 10 and 12 nearest the player, and this is preferred. Therings can be positioned to be held by pins I7 which pass through thering and are screwed or otherwise anchored into the upright posts I0, 11and 12 at appropriate places. In the lower right hand part of FIG. 2there is a partial sectional view which illustrates this mounting. Eachpeg ,17 may be tied to string 27 which in turn is anchored to the ringto prevent losing the pegs. An alternate mounting means is shown inFIGS. 3 and 4 as described below.

Additionally, vertically positioned braces or support members 18 can beplaced between the rings such as shown (FIG. I). These support membersI8 can consist of rodlike members that pass through the rings, or asshown in FIG. 2, by the showing at 19, the support member 20 can be asimple rod that is pressure or snub-fitted into grooves 21 and 22contained in a lined position in respective rings 14 and 15.

It is to be appreciatedthat the pegs 10, II and 12 can be of ground 23as shown at places 24 in FIG. I.

Alternatively, and not shown for convenience, the pegs may containwidened flat structures or suction cup elements in their extremities toallow the target to be placed directly on the ground or on a board in asecure position. It is to be appreciated that the target articleparticularly to be considered for use with the target of this inventionis 'generally constructed of a very lightweight material so that thetarget of this invention is not necessarily bombarded with heavy,serious blows. 0n the other hand, it is desired that when placed on orfixed to the ground the target of this invention have stability andrigidity to withstand the blows that are received. The device of thisinvention may be made of a wide variety of materials, including aluminumor other metals and synthetics such as nylon and the like and generallyany inexpensive lightweight, durable material or plastic may be used.

The various parts of the device are boxed in a knockdown fashion. Theuser merely inserts the rods 10. II and I2 through the appropriate holescontained in the members I3, 14 and 15 and then fits them with anappropriate pin 17. As shown in FIG. 4 the pin may be a rodlike member25 which has at one end a tapered section 26 and has at the other end asecond pin 27 that'fits in a hole contained in that end. The pin isinserted through a hole in a post, such as post 10 in FIG. 4, withtapered end 26 becoming flush with the innermost surface of the ring.The rod 25 passes through a hole in ring, say ring 13, which is alignedthen with the post and pin 27 is inserted into the transverse hole inshaft 25 to lock the post and ring together. If desired, the end ofshaft 25 can be threaded to receive a ring nut, not shown forconvenience.

Usually the game is boxed with two targets of this invention and fourdiscs similar to the one shown in said patent. After the device isassembled, it is placed on the ground or a desirable platform above theground and the player proceeds to throw the saucerlike device of U.S.Pat. No. 3,312,472 toward the target in a curved path of flight. Rulesof the game are provided for scoring which rules usually provide thatthe posts are hazards and points are lost for making a ringer by causingthe saucerlike object'to settle upon a given post and points are givenfor causing it to settle into space 16. The game thus comprises asimulated space ship or "flying saucer" and a hangar or shelter for it.It may be used at the beach. on picnics, in playgrounds and elsewherewith much interest not only because of the curved flight but becausethe'target may be approached from the rear as well as from its front orsides.

While the invention has been described herein connection with certainembodiments and certain structural details, it is clear that changes,modifications or equivalents can be used by those skilled in th'efart;accordingly, such changes within the principles ofthis invention areintended to be included within the scope ofthe following claims.

Iclaim:

1. Apparatus for affording a landing for a simulated spacecraft or likedevice which apparatus comprises a plurality of posts positionedvertically and spaced apart from each other; and a plurality ofring-shaped members attached to said posts in a horizontal position,said members so positioned affording a hollow body adapted to receivesaid craft in a properly aimed landing and at least one of said postsextending above the uppermost of said ring-shaped members thus affordinga barrier to said craft in said landing and said posts including postsaffordingbarriers that extend above the said uppermost ring-shapedmember to distances that differat least as to one of said posts, therebyaffording barriers of different heights.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim I which includes means formounting said ring-shaped members on said posts and holding them in afixed horizontal position.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 which includes supportingelements for and disposed between said ringshaped members.

